Pistachio Apple Peach Pie

Since apples are very much in season here, I've been making pies. More importantly, I've been experimenting in fun ways with the pies.

Typically, I'll use my agave variation of Elise's All-Butter Crust. While I did keep the recipe handy this time, I took a big departure with the recipe, using pistachio nuts for the almonds and splitting the flour three ways between white whole wheat, all-purpose, and coconut. The result was one truly tasty, cookie crust.

The key, I think, was using really good pistachios (from Trader Joe's).



These were roasted and lightly salted, so I used unsalted butter in the crust, but still had the nice, sweet/salty flavor profile.



The dough itself was tougher to roll out, so I wound up pressing it into the pie dish, then adding a bit more ap flour when making the apple cut-outs for the top.

For the filling, I used 3 lbs of gala apples, 1/2 lb of Trader Joe's dried peaches,



4 teaspoons of corn starch, 2 tablespoons of agave nectar, a variety of spices, and the juice of one lemon.



To make the peaches usable, I chopped them in the food processor, then rehydrated them with boiling water. I mixed the soaked peaches and the other ingredients with the apples until they were well coated.



Then, I filled the pie shell and covered the filling with tiny apple cut-outs to form the top crust.



I lightly glazed the pie crust with Elise's recommended cream and egg yolk glaze, then baked it until it was lightly browned.



The pie was gone in seconds when I brought it to my friends' gathering. My friend Monika said I have to make that one again soon. I told her that I try not to repeat recipes often, but I'll think about it.